Having grown up supporting Liverpool, Natasha Dowie thought she had reached the pinnacle of her career when she won back-to-back league titles with the club back in 2013-14.
But fast-forward to 2019 and Dowie is reconsidering that statement after Melbourne Victory clinched their maiden Westfield W-League Premiership.
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Dowie, in her fourth year at the club, was addressing media ahead of her side’s massive Westfield W-League Finals Series clash against Perth Glory.
She said Victory’s dream season now ranks alongside what she achieved at the Reds.
“It tops it with Liverpool,” Dowie said.
“Liverpool is the club that I support, I was lucky enough to win the league with them but this is definitely up there with them. Victory is my club now as well, this feels like home to me so it’s definitely very special.”
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Dowie led by example during the campaign, netting nine goals, and was in line for the Golden Boot before Glory star Sam Kerr pulled away late on.
The former English international said the success was down to the hard work of everyone at the club, both the squad and support staff.
“It’s been a slow process but we’ve finally got there and as captain of the club it’s such an honour,” Dowie said.
“This group of girls, it’s the best group I’ve had the pleasure of being involved with, the coaching staff and just the club as a whole.
“I openly tell everyone how much I’ve fallen in love with the club, it’s somewhere where I definitely see my future.
“To have won the league with this club and group of players is definitely one of the biggest special moments of my career.”
While the race for the Premiers Plate went right down to the wire, head coach Jeff Hopkins revealed that the players had been closely monitored ahead of what is set to be a gruelling post-season campaign.
“It’s quite a short season so we’ve been making sure over the past few weeks we’ve just eased off a little bit on the girls,” Hopkins said.
“The training’s been a little bit lighter, we knew we obviously had a big trip to Perth followed by Canberra so we’ve managed the players game by game.
“The girls are in very good physical condition which is going to be really important ahead of this weekend, I think it’s going to be a really physical game.”
